What do you make of this comment?

A friend of mine is looking for a gun for his wife. Most likely she wont carry or shoot it much but he says its for peace of mind. I will withhold judgment on this. Anyway he doesnt want to spend a lot so when he comes to me for advice i reccomend the Bersa Thunder 380. Fast foward a few days and I find myself at my local gun shop checking out if they have one in stock so I can give my friend a call to check it out. When I ask an employee who I have delt with before what the durabillity diffrence is between the two tone and all black coating he says...."If your looking for durabillity you shouldnt be looking at a Bersa". If this was any other person I would just think "gun snob" and move along. The thing is I actually trust this guy. In past dealing he has been very knowlegable and helpfull. I have read good things about this gun (mostly here) and am now second guessing my reccomendation. What do you guys and gals think?

If you enjoyed reading about "What do you make of this comment?" here in TheHighRoad.org archive, you'll LOVE our community. Come join TheHighRoad.org today for the full version!

rondog

March 14, 2009, 08:56 PM

Gun snob. Wants to sell you something more expensive with a higher profit margin.

My Bersa Thunder .380 is more than "durable" enough for the usage you're describing. Be advised though, that the .380 seems to be the new "must have" caliber, I hear that ammo is getting dang hard to find. Go figure.

earlthegoat2

March 14, 2009, 08:58 PM

I think the Bersa is a solid enough choice. The employee may have been displaying some gun snobism but maybe he strongly believes in something else besides the Bersa. Did you ask him to explain his statement?

guajiro

March 14, 2009, 10:14 PM

I did not ask him to elaborate as I figured he would have said that there were better guns out there. I am well aware of this and didnt want to get into the whole " Isnt your life worth a couple more hundred bucks" discussion. This is the same guy who had no issues selling me my Kahr PM9 which has a more negative reports floating around than the Bersa. Though my PM9 has been flawless.

mtlucas0311

March 14, 2009, 11:46 PM

I don"t know what the wife in questions skill set is when it comes to guns, but we've had a new female shooter (small stature) join the PPC league at the club I shoot at and she started with a .380. Now, I'm not sure what model she has but I thought it was the Bersa you are describing here; and she has had little luck with it. She has trouble manipulating the controls and often forgets to switch the weapon to "fire" when she draws the weapon. I know these are user error and not the weapons fault, but I have a more liberal attitude towards "durability" that can be summed up as "does it go bang when you intend to shoot, user error or not". I got her to switch to a small frame revolver and she is doing much better. more confidence in the weapon has translated into higher proficiency.

browningguy

March 15, 2009, 12:06 AM

I have had very good experiences with my Bersa .380, it seems to be an excellent little pistol. I would not want to shoot a couple of hundred rounds a week in it as the frame is aluminum alloy and I'm not sure how long it would hold up. But for a gun to be carried a lot and shot little nothing wrong with it at all.

If you enjoyed reading about "What do you make of this comment?" here in TheHighRoad.org archive, you'll LOVE our community. Come join TheHighRoad.org today for the full version!